Saturday, January 17

This Spring for those looking for something off the beaten-path, a story to take home from your holiday & to experience Italy how the locals live - this is the cooking holiday for you!

Learn to make sausages from scratch, slow roast rabbit in the style of porchetta in the wood burning, gather wild edibles & learn enough Italian to order at a restaurant!

Join us in the kitchen -April 25th - May 2nd 2009

Arrival in Italy!

Welcome to La Tavola Marche! Arrive to Prosecco in the Garden

Four course feasts complete with house wine

Cooking Classes

Sweet & Savory - Tiramisu & Sausage making class! First we will create the classic Italian dessert and then get elbow deep in meat! Full lunch to follow serving the freshly stuffed sausages & fluffy tiramisu.

Parliamo Italiano

2 Language Lessons - learn the basics of Italian in Italy from a wonderful local teacher, each lesson is approximately 2 hours followed by a light lunch

Forno Legna!

Forno legna- We will fire up the wood burning oven and slow roast rabbit in the style of porchetta!

Foraging & Pizza Dinner

Wild Edibiles trip into the woods & along the Candigliano River with a picnic lunch packed by the Chef (weather permitting)

Pizza made in the outdoor wood burning oven - pick your topping & learn how to throw the dough!

Wine Tasting

Taste the wines of the region with a wine tasting of local reds & whites and the famed Verdecchio

Friday, January 16

After one crazy year in Italy - my how things have changed! We can decidedly say we feel at home. 2008 has flown by with a new adventure everyday - it is hard to believe that 13 short months ago we were sitting in the Consulate General's office in NYC begging for our visa's.

We never could have done this on our own & the lis is long for those we owe thanks! It is surreal that we live in this country, live on our beautiful land and get to live our dream...see we're sounding like Italians already!

"Expat Americans Ashley and her chef husband Jason run the idyllic La Tavola Marche in Le Marche, Italy. American Ashley Bartner's enthusiasm for life and living in Italy becomes apparent as soon as she starts talking about how she and her husband, highly trained chef Jason Bartner, decided that Italy was the place for them to rent apartments at their La Tavola March Agriturismo."

Click here to read the story in its entirety & to subscribe to Alex Roe's fun & very informative informative blog on all things Italian!

Click HERE to make a reservation at our idyllic farmhouse / agriturismo!

Saturday, January 10

Last week we got together with our new friend Vittorio outside of Fano (on the coast) for a day of sausage & salami making! Vittorio has a sausage making haven in his backyard - all in old converted garage. He has been doing this for years not for work but for the pleasure of it & the passion he has for the meat!

In a little over 4 hours we had produced 55 pounds of sausage & 25 pounds of salami - all from absolute scratch!

Vittorio takes his sausage making VERY seriously - so seriously, that he has no real recipe, all done by the eye. All winter he turns hundreds of kilos of raw pork into sausages, salami, lonzo and pancetta all for his lucky friends & family! Winter is best for curing meats with the cold air passing through the tiny prick marks left in the casings.

Find the best pork shoulder possibleSalt & pepperHalf a glass of white wine

Grind it all up together & stuff it into casings.Simple!

The sausages can be eaten immediatly or hung to dry for about a month in a cool dry place. Then placed under oil, lard or in a vaccum sealed bag - this is will last for a good six months.

Of the 15 kilos that we made about 12 kilos are being dried for our guests to devour this spring & summer. So the next time you are at La Tavola Marche you just may be lucky enough to try our homemade goods!

At one point I heard Vittorio call to his wife - "prendi un pentolino e forchetta" (bring me a little pan & a fork) ... Oh I knew what this meant - SAMPLE TIME!! And boy was I right - not long after the sweet smells of sizzling sausages filled the garage. After all the meat, I was a bit parched & asked for a glass of water - Vittorio grinned - "No bevi il vino!" (no drink the wine) I love that wine is perferred at all times over the inferior aqua.

I laugh to myself thinking of a particular episode of Seinfeld where Kramer uses Jerry's apartment to watch a movie - cut to Jerry opening the door with tons sausages hung from the ceiling - what is going on in here? "You said I could watch a video....an instructional video on how to make sausages!" For some reason this gets me everytime! Now we look like Jerry's apt with vines of meat hanging from our 200 year-old wood beam rafters!

It was a great way to spend a cold winter morning - elbow deep in meat! Grazie Vittorio!

Saturday, January 3

I can't believe we've been living in Italy for a year! Incredible!! (More on that later...)

The holidays are holly jolly here so were were excited to celebrate the New Year with a house full of guests! We worked day & night - cooking & cleaning for our big party on New Year's Eve - Capodanno (or cap of the year) for a group of 28 young Italians. They were ready to eat & party! The fires were roaring, the kitchen was filled with food, the ground covered in snow, firecrackers popping & the vino flowing! The menu created by Jason was awesome & every little thing was homemade!